1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed herein is related to antibodies directed to the antigen T cell, immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain 1 (TIM-1) proteins and uses of such antibodies. In particular, there are provided fully human monoclonal antibodies directed to the antigen TIM-1. Nucleotide sequences encoding, and amino acid sequences comprising, heavy and light chain immunoglobulin molecules, particularly sequences corresponding to contiguous heavy and light chain sequences spanning the framework regions and/or complementarity determining regions (CDRs), specifically from FR1 through FR4 or CDR1 through CDR3, are provided. Hybridomas or other cell lines expressing such immunoglobulin molecules and monoclonal antibodies are also provided.
2. Description of the Related Art
A new family of genes encoding T cell, immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain (TIM) proteins (three in humans and eight in mice) have been described recently with emerging roles in immunity. Kuchroo et al., Nat Rev Immunol 3:454-462 (2003); McIntire et al., Nat Immunol 2:1109-1116 (2001). The TIM gene family members reside in chromosomal regions, 5q33.2 in human and 11B1.1 in mouse, and have been linked to allergy and autoimmune diseases. Shevach, Nat Rev Immunol 2:389-400 (2002); Wills-Karp et al., Nat Immunol 4:1050-1052 (2003).
One TIM family member, TIM-1, is also known as Hepatitis A virus cellular receptor (HAVcr-1) and was originally discovered as a receptor for Hepatitis A virus (HAV) (Kaplan et al, EMBO J 15(16):4282-96 (1996)). This gene was later cloned as kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1) (Ichimura et al., J Biol Chem 273:4135-4142 (1998); Han et al., Kidney Int 62:237-244 (2002)).
Kaplan et al. isolated the cellular receptor for hepatitis A virus from a cDNA library from a primary African Green Monkey Kidney (AGMK) cell line expressing the receptor. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,861. The disclosed utility of the polypeptides and nucleic acids was to diagnose infection by hepatitis A virus, to separate hepatitis A virus from impurities in a sample, to treat infection as well as to prevent infection by hepatitis A virus. Furthermore, the polypeptides could be expressed in transformed cells and used to test efficacy of compounds in an anti-hepatitis A virus binding assay.
The human homolog, hHAVcr-1 (aka TIM-1), was described by Feigelstock et al., J Virology 72(8): 6621-6628 (1998). The same molecules were described in PCT Publication Nos: WO 97/44460 and WO 98/53071 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,385 as Kidney Injury-related Molecules (KIM) that were found to be upregulated in renal tissue after injury to the kidney. The molecules were described as being useful in a variety of therapeutic interventions, specifically, renal disease, disorder or injury. For example, PCT Publication No. WO 02/098920 describes antibodies to KIM and describes antibodies that inhibit the shedding of KIM-1 polypeptide from KIM-1 expressing cells e.g., renal cells, or renal cancer cells.
TIM-1 is a type 1 membrane protein that contains a novel six-cysteine immunoglobulin-like domain and a mucin threonine/serine.proline-rich (T/S/P) domain. TIM-1 was originally identified in rat. TIM-1 has been found in mouse, African green monkey, and humans (Feigelstock et al., J Virol 72(8):6621-8 (1998). The African green monkey ortholog is most closely related to human TIM-1 showing 77.6% amino acid identity over 358 aligned amino acids. Rat and mouse orthologs exhibit 50% (155/310) and 45.6% (126/276) amino acid identity respectively, although over shorter segments of aligned sequence than for African green monkey. Monoclonal antibodies to the Ig-like domain of TIM-1 have been shown to be protective against Hepatitis A Virus infection in vitro. Silberstein et al., J Virol 75(2):717-25 (2001). In addition, Kim-1 was shown to be expressed at low levels in normal kidney but its expression is increased dramatically in postischemic kidney. Ichimura et al., J Biol Chem 273(7):4135-42 (1998). HAVCR-1 is also expressed at elevated levels in clear cell carcinomas and cancer cell lines derived from the same.
TIM-1 shows homology to the P-type “trefoil” domain suggesting that it may have similar biological activity to other P-type trefoil family members. Some trefoil domain containing proteins have been shown to induce cellular scattering and invasion when used to treat kidney, colon and breast tumor cell lines. Prest et al., FASEB J 16(6):592-4 (2002). In addition, some trefoil containing proteins confer cellular resistance to anoikis, an anchorage-related apoptosis phenomenon in epithelium. Chen et al., Biochem Biophys Res Commun 274(3):576-82 (2000).
TIM-1 maps to a region of human chromosome 5 known as Tapr in the murine sytenic region that has been implicated in asthma. Tapr, a major T cell regulatory locus, controls the development of airway hyperreactivity. Wills-Karp, Nature Immunology 2:1095-1096 (2001); McIntire et al., Nature Immunology 2:1109-1116 (2001).